Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua Given Shock World Title Shot for December Fight

After months of venom and vitriol surrounding where Fury vs Joshua would take place, a much bigger announcement has potentially landed just hours after it was confirmed that the pair of British boxing icons will square off at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.

Joshua and Fury have been circling for nearly a decade. A decade of trading insults and invitations to fight that have ultimately come to nothing until April of this year, when it was officially announced that both men had signed contracts to fight each other before the end of the year, following a warm-up fight for both parties, as agreed with Turki Alalshikh.

The warm-ups of both men may have poured some water on the fire of the upcoming fight, with Joshua getting dropped twice in the first round against Kristian Prenga and Fury putting on, by all accounts, a lackluster sparring-esque performance against Mariusz Wach.

Fury vs Joshua for a world title

However, the latest report from Mike Coppinger will relight that fire. The report says that Joshua vs. Fury will be for the WBA 'Super' heavyweight title which was vacated by Oleksandr Usyk in June. Something Fury's manager had previously pushed for.

Murat Gassiev will be feeling overlooked, as after Usyk's vacation he was elevated from 'Regular' Champion but never officially received the title of 'Super' Champion. Jarrell Miller will also be among those feeling hard done by, as he is ranked No.1 by the WBA.

Breaking: Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua will fight for the WBA 'super' heavyweight title, @ringmagazine has learned.

Fury and AJ will both be looking to regain a heavyweight title. Usyk remains The Ring champ while Murat Gassiev is the current holder of the WBA's 'regular'… pic.twitter.com/jpf6VvOhd3
— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) September 24, 2026

Nonetheless, Fury and Joshua will both be given the chance to join the exclusive club of three-time heavyweight world champions, accompanying Lennox Lewis, Muhammad Ali, Vitali Klitschko and Michael Moorer.

It is an interesting move from the WBA to demote Gassiev to 'Regular' champion after he has already said that he would give the winner a shot at his title, especially a sanctioning body that swore to rid itself of the 'Regular' champions.

One possible explanation is that the WBA have seen dollar signs in putting their belt on the line to get a slice of the reported $200 million purse for the fight. This could well attract other sanctioning bodies that have belts to offer, such as the WBC, which could offer its interim belt, previously held by Agit Kabayel.

Anthony Joshua's last time out ended in defeat to Daniel Dubois — Anthony Joshua | IMAGO / PA Images

Is it fair?

The simple answer to that question is no, as there are, as aforementioned, fighters who have worked for the opportunity to be ranked inside the top 10 with the WBA for Fury and Joshua, who, frankly, hold high rankings with the sanctioning body on name rather than achievements in recent memory to sweep away their chance at a world title this year.

On the other hand, it gives fans something else to be excited about. Not only is it an era-defining fight for British boxing, but it could induct one man into the pantheon of all-time heavyweight greats.

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